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1925 World Series
In the 1925 World Series, the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the defending champion Washington Senators in seven games. In a reversal of fortunes on all counts from the 1924 World Series, Washington's Walter Johnson dominated in Games 1 and 4 and lost in Game 7. The Senators built up a 3–1 Series lead. After Pittsburgh won the next two games, Johnson again took the mound for Game 7, and carried a 6–4 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning. But errors by shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh in both the seventh and eighth inning led to four unearned runs, and the Pirates become the first team in a best-of-seven Series to overcome a 3–1 Series deficit to win the championship. During the eighth inning of Game 3, the Senators Sam Rice ran after an Earl Smith line drive hit into right center field. Rice made a diving "catch" into the temporary stands, but did not emerge with the ball for approximately fifteen seconds. The Pirates contested the play, saying a fan probably stuffed the ball into Rice's glove. The call stood and Rice parried questions about the incident for the rest of his life—never saying if he did or did not really make the catch. His typical answer (including to Commissioner Landis, who said it was a good answer) was always "The umpire said I caught it." He left a sealed letter at the Hall of Fame to be opened after his death. In it, he had written to Hall of Fame President Paul Kerr: "At no time did I lose possession of the ball." That was insufficient to some, but the Senators had lost the Series, so his play did not affect the final outcome. The Senators' regular shortstop and the 1925 American League Most Valuable Player, Roger Peckinpaugh, had a tough Series, committing a record eight (8) errors in the seven (7) game series. "In 1925, the Senators hopped the Big Train once too often... earning Bucky Harris the criticism of many fans and American League head Ban Johnson who dispatched an irate wire to the Senators manager. Despite all the second guessing Harris has always said, 'If I had it to do over again, I'd still pitch Johnson.'" (Lamont Buchanan, The World Series and Highlights of Baseball, Dutton, 1951) Summary NL Pittsburgh Pirates (4) vs. AL Washington Senators (3) Matchups Game 1 Wednesday, October 7, 1925 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game 2 Thursday, October 8, 1925 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game 3 Saturday, October 10, 1925 at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. Game 4 Sunday, October 11, 1925 at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. Game 5 Monday, October 12, 1925 at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. Game 6 Tuesday, October 13, 1925 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game 7 Thursday, October 15, 1925 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Composite box 1925 World Series (4–3): Pittsburgh Pirates (N.L.) over Washington Senators (A.L.) |}} Notes References *Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 108-113) *Reichler, Joseph, ed. (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.), p. 2133. MacMillian Publishing. ISBN 0-02-579010-2. * External links * 1925 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com * [http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/postseason/mlb_ws_recaps.jsp?feature=1925 1925 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)] * 1925 World Series at Baseball-Almanac.com * 1925 World Series box scores and play-by-play at Retrosheet.org Category:World Series World Series Category:Pittsburgh Pirates Category:Washington Senators